The Renegade Fly

This Fore and Aft pattern can be used on both river and lake. In small sizes it can work as a midge cluster pattern and, in larger sizes, it might be considered an attractor pattern. Devised in Idaho on the Malad River by guide Taylor "Beartracks" Williams in 1928 (The original versions had white hackle front and aft until 1936 when the rear hackle became brown.), it was an excellent pattern for cutthroat trout. The pattern is a Fore and Aft construction that had been popular in Europe for centuries. The Renegade became one of the most popular Fore and Aft patterns developed in modern times. It has a white front hackle for superb visibility. The rear brown hackle provides stable positioning on the water and the peacock herl body has been an ultimate material for attractor patterns such as the Zug Bug and Royal Coachman. Williams became the first guide at the Sun Valley Lodge in 1937 and was a close friend to Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway spoke favorably of the Renegade pattern from experiences with wary rainbows on Silver Creek in 1940. He remained a close fishing companion of Taylor "Beartracks" Williams until Williams' death in 1952. Numerous variations have sprung forth with the Reversed Renegade, Double Renegade, Renegade Nymph (Terry Hellekson, 1974), and Royal Renegade.

The Renegade can be fished either as a wet fly or dry fly. As a dry fly, the Renegade can be cast upstream towards feeding trout. The Double Hackles provide excellent floatation and visibility. Another method is to cast across and slightly upstream, letting the fly float downstream. Once the fly is below you, pull it upstream as a wet pattern. Choice of hackle materials will determine whether the pattern is primarily a wet fly or dry fly. You can use the stiffer rooster saddles for excellent floatation as a dry pattern or use Hen Saddles for a wet pattern. Either way, they are tied in a collar style. On lakes, the pattern can be a good choice when trout are feeding on chironomid emergers particularly during the early evening , used with a floating line and floro leader.

You Tube Tying Videos

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The Davy Knot- Good fly to tippet knot.

Didymo - Rock Snot

Didymo, or rock snot, is a single-celled alga that can take over a stream making it impossible to fish. Help keep rock snot out of Missouri. Use wader wash stations at trout areas before entering a stream. Check your waders and fishing gear for algae. Clean all gear in a 2 percent bleach solution or with dishwashing detergent, or dry any item that's been in the water by exposing it to sunlight for 48 hours.

Note:To minimize the spread of didymo, pouous-soled waders and boots are prohibited in trout parks and other cold water trout streams.

Report Stream Pollution

If you find dead fish, leaking barrels of unknown chemicals, municipal or livestock lagoons discharging poorly treated effluent, broken pipelines, or unauthorized dredging or bulldozing polluting a stream, report it as soon as possible to the Department of Natural Resource's 24-hour environmental emergency response number 573.634.2436.

Missouri Fly Shops

This listing is not meant to be a complete list of all fly shops in Missouri or that serve residents of Missouri. As more fly shop become known they will be listed. If you have a favorite fly shop in Missouri and it is not listed, contact the web master.

History of Trout in Missouri

Trout fishing has been part of Missouri's outdoor heritage for most of the state's history. However, trout are not native here, and when the Missouri territory was granted statehood in 1821, no trout were swimming within its boundaries. At that time, the nearest salmonids were brook trout in what is now northeast Iowa, though limited fossil evidence suggests that salmonid fishes may have existed much further south, perhaps in Missouri, during the last glacial advance.

Early settlers from the eastern United States might have been surprised that there were no trout in the cold, clear waters of the Ozarks. Perhaps as a result, trout introduction was one of the first acts of fisheries management in Missouri, beginning not long after the Civil War. In 1878, the Missouri Fish Commission purchased "California salmon" eggs from the United States Fish Commission (Turner 1979). Salmon fry were stocked in tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in an attempt to create a spawning migration from the Gulf of Mexico to Missouri. Brook trout were stocked in streams adjacent to the Frisco railroad line between St. Louis and southwest Missouri in 1879. Rainbow trout eggs were first purchased from the U.S. Fish Commission's McCloud River Station in California in 1880. By 1887, rainbow trout were naturally reproducing in Missouri (Maynard 1887).

Missouri's first coldwater hatchery was constructed on Brown's Spring near St. Joseph, Missouri in 1879, but it was closed in 1916 due to water supply problems. During the period 1889 to 1922, brown trout (1890), lake trout (1890), several species of Pacific salmon (1896), grayling (1896) and Atlantic salmon (1902) were reared at the Neosho National Fish Hatchery.

Missouri's first successful state-owned trout hatchery was built in 1921 at Sequiota Spring near Springfield. Rainbow trout and other stream fishes were reared and stocked from this facility until Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery opened in 1958. The State of Missouri began purchase of Bennett Spring in 1924 and the Missouri Game and Fish Commission began operating the hatchery in 1927. Montauk was acquired in 1928 and the hatchery began operation in 1932. Roaring River and its existing hatchery were donated to the state of Missoui in 1928. The cooperative agreement to manage Maramec Spring as a trout fishing area was initiated in 1958.

With the establishment of the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1937, the modern era of trout management began. Stocking was concentrated in cold water streams in three trout parks and five trout-management areas which were open to public fishing. From these beginnings, the program gradually expanded. Hatchery production increased, allowing more areas to be stocked and a greater diversity of trout fishing opportunities became available to Missouri anglers. Recent examples of this diversity include the establishment of wild trout management areas in 1982 and the first urban winter trout management areas in 1990.

Sell New or Old Fly Fishing Gear

Sell your NEW or OLD fly fishing gear. Contact Joe Weber by email at weber.josepj@sbcglobal.net or by calling 314-680-9646. Joe will buy collections or single items at a fair price.

When the wind is in the east,
'Tis neither good for man or beast;
When the wind is in the north,
The skillful fisher goes not forth;
When the wind is in the south,
It blows the fly in the fish's mouth;
When the wind is in the west,
Then 'tis at the very best.-NURSERY RHYME